


Respice, Adspice, Prospice

by Icka M Chif (mischif)



Series: Carpe Aestatem (Seize the Summer) [4]
Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Friendship, Future Fic, Gen, Illnesses, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-12
Updated: 2012-05-28
Packaged: 2017-10-26 06:12:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/279628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mischif/pseuds/Icka%20M%20Chif
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Respice, Adspice, Prospice - '<i>Examine the Past, the Present, the Future</i>'</p><p>Phineas and Ferb plan for the future, Doofenshmirtz and Vanessa take care of a sick Perry,  Ferb does some behind the scenes wrangling, and Perry discovers his secret may not be so secret as the boys go house hunting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Respice, Adspice, Prospice

* * *

  
**Respice, Adspice, Prospice**   
_Examine the Past, the Present, the Future_   


* * *

“So, while we’re talking about the future.” Phineas looked over at his brother as they wandered through downtown Danville. It was a nice spring day, winter still had it's chilly fingers in the air, but the rare bright warm sunlight wasn't to be missed. “What all were you thinking of?”

Ferb grimaced slightly, a lingering self-recrimination for vanishing for two weeks, then it was gone, replaced by a thoughtful expression. Ferb tilted his head to the side and shrugged as he shoved his hands into his coat pockets. He’d had a few ideas, explored a few options.

“College?” Phineas mused. “I dunno. I mean, we’re just finishing up 13 years of school, 14 if you count pre-school. Do you really think we need to go?” It was something to consider, instead of just following their fellow students into continuing education.

Ferb glanced up at the sky above them.

“I guess ‘Doctor Fletcher’ _does_ have a nice ring to it.” Phineas admitted. ‘Doctor Flynn’ not nearly as much. ‘Doctor Flynn-Fletcher’? ‘The Doctors Flynn-Fletcher’ sounded good.

But that was at least six or more years of school. He was ready for summer. Endless Summer. No school, just inventing and adventures. Doing what they wanted to do, instead of what their teachers did.

On the other hand, having letters after the end of their names could probably open up a lot more doors than skipping school entirely. At least a bachelor's wouldn't be a bad idea.

"We could always buy a doctor's degree off the internet." He proposed with a grin. "I understand you can pick one up for about $15."

Ferb gave him a dry look, then offered a counter suggestion.

“A gap year, huh?” Phineas mused. “Take a year off from school and travel the world? We could live in England for a change.” Especially if Ferb had been researching going abroad for school.

It was something that Ferb of all people had insisted on about a year after their parents got married, that Phineas and Candace also have dual citizenship in both England and the United States. Just like Ferb and Dad did.

Phineas had never asked, but he figured it had something to do with the death of Ferb’s biological Mum. So that if something did happen to one of their parents, the other parent wouldn’t have any problems getting custody of all the kids, keeping the three of them together. Even if it meant moving across the ocean.

He vaguely remembered it being a big hassle at the time, lots of paperwork, Mom formally adopting Ferb, Dad adopting both Phineas and Candace. It was worth it though, they never had any problems when they went to visit their family in England.

And it had made a then-paranoid Ferb relax. Ferb had been kind of clingy to everyone when they first met, almost afraid to let anyone out of his eyesight, in case they disappeared forever.

Ferb shrugged, saying nothing. While he liked England and loved visiting, Danville was his home.

“Yeah.” Phineas grinned. He was rather attached to the place as well. “So I’m guessing an out of state school is out of the question?”

Ferb raised an eyebrow and Phineas laughed. “Right.”

Danville College was actually somewhat of a safe bet as far as schools went. It was local and they'd know people there.

Although they'd had a few scholarship offers that they'd looked at and considered. The Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork, England had been debated before they realised that no one ever actually appeared to graduate. Miskatonic University had been especially keen on getting them to go there, but quite frankly the letters gave them both the serious heebie-jeebies.

But in someways, he was looking forward to the end of High School and not so much in others. They got to pick their own classes based on interests, do hands-on type of work.

On the other hand, good-bye childhood and copious amounts of downtime.

His brother smirked slightly and Phineas laughed. “And we could move out and get our own pad.” Phineas agreed. Parties at their place every night.

“We’d need a place with a lot of room though.” He mused. Their parents' backyard was great and all, but they were hampered by space sometimes. And while most of the time the citizens of Danville didn’t mind them using the city to build stuff around, there'd been once or twice it wasn’t okay. “A LOT of room.”

They’d kinda sorta maybe gotten in trouble for not being zoned as a launching point for satellites and potential space travel. Not that anywhere really _was_ , except for maybe Cape Canaveral...

At least none of their alien friends had ever gotten caught taking off from their backyard.

Ferb held a finger up, an idea clearly in mind as he dug into a pocket when a voice interrupted them. “Phineas?”

He turned around to see Isabella standing there, a surprised look on her face. “Whatcha doin’?” She asked, then clasped her hands over her mouth with a startled gasp. “Sorry.” Isabella whispered, looking shame-faced. “Old habits.”

Phineas glanced over at his brother, who had gone politely blank, his face devoid of expression. No help from that quarter.

“No worries.” He assured Isabella, shoving his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. “We're just wandering Danville. We were asked to keep an eye out for an escaped Pterodactyl, but judging from the lack of screaming, no one’s seen it. You?”

He was half-afraid that she’d ask to join them, which would make Ferb go silent for the rest of the day. But at the same time, he missed hanging out with his friend Isabella.

“I’ve got a Fireside Girl’s meeting to get to.” She motioned across the street. “You guys have fun. It's good seeing you.” She said with a smile and wave, taking her leave.

“Good seeing you too. Later, Izzie.” Phineas waved back. They watched her leave in silence.

That had been slightly awkward. Not as bad as it had been for a while at school, but still awkward. They were still trying to find a new balance in their friendship. In someways, it was like starting all over again, making friends with a different person.

At least they were all still trying.

A few of the Fireside Girls had taken him aside and read him the riot act for turning down Isabella and ‘cruelly crushing her feminine heart’. One had even supplied a scrapbook of drawings and sketches that Isabella had made over the years.

He had no idea that she viewed him as a flying centaur. Cool, but _weird_.

One or two of their other classmates had scolded him for ‘Playing Make-Believe’, instructing him to get his head out of the clouds and pay her the attention they felt she deserved.

They didn’t remember the Roller Coasters, the Backyard Beach party, the Giant Car Wash, the Mix and Mingle Machine, or any of the city-wide adventures or things that they’d done when they were younger, brushing it off as childhood fantasy.

If that was the way they lived, Phineas never wanted to grow up.

“You want something to drink?” He asked Ferb, shoving his hands in his pockets. Ferb seemed grateful for the change in topic and nodded.

They wandered into Uncle Joe’s Subs and said hi to Jeremy’s uncle as they grabbed some sodas. They walked back outside, slurping on their sodas in silence.

He was still a little angry at his best friends, a lingering hurt that refused to fade. He kept wondering if he knew them as well as he thought he did, or they him.

Ferb for thinking he was less important than everything else, and Isabella for thinking she was more important than everything else.

It hurt that he hadn’t noticed it sooner, been able to figure something out that would have left everyone happy instead of floundering. While he wasn’t in any hurry to be an adult, it made him feel like a little child that the grown ups were spelling words over his head to keep secrets from him.

It was like he was caught between two forces, teetering between being kids and being adults.

No wonder Ferb freaked about things changing.

“Alright.” Phineas took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders as he tossed his soda bottle in an appropriate recycling bin. Enough angsting. “You were saying something about getting our own place?”

Ferb’s face lit up and he nodded, digging in his pocket for something. He pulled out his phone and scrolled through a few pages before hitting a button on the side to activate the 3D holographic projector, the image of a large warehouse lighting up. He passed it to Phineas.

“For sale.” Phineas read outloud, skimming the description and flipping through the images. It wasn’t just the warehouse, but an abandoned factory and an entire pier extending out into the water. It was on the edge of Danville, but still within Jefferson County limits.

“Kinda isolated, isn’t it?” Phineas mused. It was at least a half hour drive from the city centre. Not that they couldn't just teleport everywhere, but it might be tricky for some of their friends to come visit.

Ferb reached over and tapped a few keys, the image switching to an island for sale a few miles off shore.

“If you really wanted to get isolated, we could just raise Atlantis back up from the bottom of the ocean and move it to international waters.” Phineas pointed out, just a bit sarcastic. “We wouldn’t have to pay property tax that way.”

Ferb looked like he was contemplating it.

“But...” Phineas puzzled. “Wouldn’t you want to be _closer_ to everyone?” Ferb was just as much of a social creature as Phineas was, even if he wasn't as verbal about it. And a lot of their projects involved, well, _people_.

Ferb shook his head.

“What do you mean, ‘Security’?” Phineas asked. “We make _toys_ , not..." He flailed around for an appropriate word. "Government secrets or something like that!”

Ferb frowned, a slight shadow falling slightly over his face.

“I know anything can be used as a weapon.” Phineas shook his head. What did that have to do with anything? “... Ferb? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Ferb nervously glanced around, then nodded, pressing a finger to his lips.

“‘Not here’?” Phineas echoed as he too looked around. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

He hated the feeling that a few weeks prior, he would have taken Ferb's word for it and not thought anything of it. But right now all he could wonder was what else Ferb wasn't telling him.

Ferb put a hand on Phineas’ arm, pulling him out of his thoughts. His brother gave him a small smile as he retracted his hand, promising he’d talk about it soon. But not here. Not in public.

Phineas nodded. “I’m holding you to that, bro.”

Ferb held up his right hand as if taking a solemn oath, coaxing a slight smile out of Phineas, even as uneasiness rolled in his belly. There was an edge to Ferb's expression that wasn't normally there.

What ever it was that Ferb wasn't talking about had his rock solid brother with nerves of steel, nervous.

The only thing he could think of that would scare Ferb was if one of their family was in trouble.

Ferb poked him in the shoulder, giving him a confidant look as if he was reading Phineas' mind. Their family was okay, everyone was safe. Ferb was just keeping it that way.

... Which was both reassuring and not.

Ferb glanced around, then grabbed the top of Phineas’ head and dragged him closer for a second in an awkward hug that made Phineas laugh. “Alright. I get it.” He flailed gleefully at his brother, wiggling free and reaching up to mess up Ferb's hair in return.

Ferb smiled back, looking pleased. He didn’t like keeping secrets from Phineas any more than Phineas liked having secrets being kept from him.

“So next point of order.” Phineas mused, passing Ferb’s phone back to him. “Money. How are our funds doing?”

Ferb shrugged, sticking the phone back in his pocket. Enough that they could keep doing what they wanted to keep doing for a while still, but not enough for both college and a new work place. And while their parents probably had some funds set aside to help them through college, it didn't feel right asking for that.

Better to have them spend it on a cruise or something, out traveling the world instead of being tied to the house for a while.

“So how much are we estimating needing?” Phineas asked. “Couple of thousand?”

Ferb shook his head. Property wasn’t cheap. Neither was schooling, when one factored in books and miscellaneous supplies. Especially for two people.

“Around a million, huh?” Phineas idly scratched his jaw. Tricky, but doable with some time. “Think we can do pull it off before September?”

Ferb thought it over, then shrugged one shoulder. If they were willing to put in a little bit of hard work, which wasn't a big deal to the two of them. And possibly giving up a few days of their summer, which was a little bit more of a deal with it being their last one and all.

“Yeah.” Phineas looked up at the empty blue sky above them. “It’s a pity money doesn’t just drop out of the sky.”

“-I can’t believe you bought lotto scratchers with the last of our money, but didn’t think to keep any coins TO scratch them off with!” A lady in an apron and a blue dress shouted right next to them, waving her arms at a small mustached man with glasses. “What? Were you expecting a coin to just fall out of the sky?”

The man simply looked up at the sky, patiently holding a hand out as if it might rain.

Ferb silently flipped a quarter into the man’s hand.

“Thank you kindly.” The man said, tipping his hat at them. Ferb nodded back as the woman rolled her eyes.

“Not a word.” She muttered sulkily, crossing her arms and glancing away.

Phineas smiled to himself as they passed the couple by. That was the nice thing about Danville, everyone was always willing to help others.

“I **don’t** believe it.” The woman exclaimed loudly behind him. “We just won _A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS?!_ ”

Phineas turned around to find the woman flailing around as the man looked rather pleased. “Nice!” Phineas cheered.

The man walked up to them, tearing the two unscratched tickets off the bottom and handing them to Ferb. “As a thank you.”

“I think we have a new lucky coin!” The woman cheered in the background.

Ferb looked down at the tickets and glanced at Phineas. “No thanks necessary.” Phineas assured the man, speaking for both of them. “But you’re more than welcome. Congrats, man!”

The man nodded back, looking pleased. “Hope you’re as lucky as we are.” He said, tipping his hat to them again, and walking back to the lady.

“How the heck does that work anyway?” She asked, glancing around. The man merely shrugged and kept walking.

“Huh.” Phineas watched them go. “Nice couple.”

Ferb tore the two tickets apart, before digging into his pocket and pulling out a couple of coins, passing a ticket and a coin to Phineas.

“Thanks, bro.” Phineas pressed the scratcher against the wall, using the coin to scrape off the strange silver foil. None of the amounts matched up. “Well, I got nothing. Ferb?”

Ferb held up his ticket, a blank expression on his face.

“2.5 million.” Phineas read off, then blinked. "I didn't know lotto scratchers went that high." He glanced behind him, wondering if they should give the ticket back to the couple.

There was no one there. The couple was completely gone, not even the echoing of the woman's voice. It was as if they'd never been there in the first place.

... Huh.

“Well..." He ventured. "I guess that’ll take care of everything, even with taxes taken out.”

Ferb nodded in agreement, pulling out his wallet and stuck the lotto scratcher inside.

“Although we’re probably gonna need either Mom, Dad, Candace or Jeremy to cash it for us.” Phineas mused. “We’re a little young to be winning the lotto.”

Ferb blinked. Yes, yes they were.

“So.” Phineas stuck his hands back in his pockets, turning his feet towards home. The Pterodactyl was obviously not causing any trouble anyway. Most likely disappeared the same way their big creations did. “What were you thinking of getting your doctorate in?”

Ferb gave him a small smile. “I was thinking-” Ferb said, doing spinning break dance move on one hand before jumping upright again. “-I’d get a Ph.D in _Dance_.”

-fin-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? You thought he'd go into engineering?   
> For those not getting the reference: [Dr Cockroach’s PH.D in Dance](http://youtu.be/06i4dDv3uQE)


	2. Facta non Verba

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From [ this prompt](http://disney-kink.livejournal.com/4400.html?thread=3972400) on Disney-Kink. ' _When Agent P comes down with the flu, he intends to power through it and accomplish his daily mission. But Doofenshmirtz, incredibly solicitous, puts his evil scheme on hold and insists on taking care of Perry the Platypus, claiming that it's no fun to fight if he's not at his best._ '

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally by itself, but then I realised that the next two chapters tie directly into it, so am lumping them all together. Apologies for the confusion.

  


* * *

  


**Facta Non Verba**  
 _Deeds, not words_  
(Actions speak louder than words)  


* * *

  


“Ah, Perry the Platypus. What a coincidence running into you here.” Vanessa’s Dad’s voice echoed throughout the top floor of the skyscraper. The sound of a trap closing around a certain teal platypus followed. “-And when I say coincidence, I mean totally an incidence!”

Vanessa rolled her eyes as she downloaded the schematics of her Dad’s latest ‘Inator’ to a portable drive, snapping a few photos of it as she waited. She still had time while the standard script went on. Dad gloating about catching Perry, a story about his tragic past in Druelselstein, Perry escaping, a small fight, Perry destroying the Inator, and escaping while Dad shouted ‘Curse you Perry the Platypus’.

… With minor variations therein, of course.

But since she'd turned 21, Mom's alimony checks to Dad had stopped, and Dad was impossible at making a budget and sticking to it. Being an Evil Genius or Scientist wasn't exactly easy on the pocket books, so Vanessa had taken over reins of their finances, padding their funds by selling the blueprints to her father's Inators to O.W.C.A.

O.W.C.A. put the inventions to good use saving the world, and Dad got the funds to keep doing what he loved, never realising he was helping the agency he fought against. And Vanessa got to be evil while helping people. It was a win-win situation for everyone involved.

“You see Perry the Platy.... What are you doing? You don’t look so good, you know.” Dad’s ranting traded off into thoughtful concern. A few moments of silence followed, which made her suspicious. The download finished and she quickly pocketed the disk.

“You... You’re burning up! Just wait here a second, okay? VANESSA!!!” Dad shouted, then started to ramble. “Don’t try to escape just yet. Look at you, you're all weak, why did you even come in today if you weren't feeling well?! Honestly, Perry the Platypus. VANESSA!! GET IN HERE!”

“Coming!” She shouted back, moving at a half-jog into the other room. Dad was cradling Perry like the agent was a small child, one hand feeling the platypus’ face with a concerned expression.

“Vanessa, thank goodness. Do me a favour and fetch the thermometer out of the bathroom, I think he might be ill.” Dad instructed. Perry protested feebly in his grasp, his usually dynamic limbs barely doing more then weakly swatting at Dad’s arm as Dad unwound the length of plastic wrap from around Perry’s limp form.

“Be right back.” Vanessa nodded and ran for the bathroom. Phineas had said that Perry was old for a platypus. And she’d heard that the flu could kill the elderly and the weak. How easily could this take out Perry?

The thermometer was thankfully where it was supposed to be in the medicine cabinet and she rushed back. “Here.” She said, pulling apart the protective plastic container and handing the electronic device to Dad.

“Thank you.” Dad said absently, pushing a button to turn it on. “Now Perry the Platypus. We can do this one of two ways. Either you say ‘ah’ like a good secret agent, or this gets shoved up a very uncomfortable location. Which one with it be?”

Even with dark smudges under his eyes and his normally sleek fur covered in sweat, Perry still managed to have a magnificently powerful glare. Dad just glared back and Perry finally made a disgruntled noise, opening his beak.

Dad merely nodded, placing the thermometer in Perry’s mouth as if this were a normal every day occurrence between the two of them. The platypus sulkily closed his beak around it to hold it still, eyes falling half-closed as if that minor act of defiance was enough to drain him. Vanessa could hear him wheezing slightly as he breathed.

The thermometer beeped and Dad took it out of Perry’s mouth, squinting at the read out. “93.4” He read out loud.

“Is that good?” Vanessa asked, worried. Human average was 98.7 degrees, 93 was rather low.

“Platypus average is 90 degrees Fahrenheit.” Dad shook the thermometer absently, then handed it back to her. “Monotremes have a lower core body temperature than mammals, which is why I never worry about freezing sticking him in ice, it doesn’t effect him nearly as much as it would a dog or a human. Congratulations Perry the Platypus. You’re running a fever.”

Perry gave them both a half-hearted glare, then sneezed, looking miserable as he panted for breath.

“Right. So that means plenty of liquids and bed rest.” Dad continued, standing up, Perry tucked against his hip like one would carry a baby. “And don’t argue with me about this.” He continued firmly. “I’m a Father. I know all about these things. You can sleep it off here, I’m not going to take over the Tri-State area until the Inator is up and running _anyway_ and that’ll take at least three days minimum. Maybe a week. We’ll see how this goes, you can’t rush science you know.”

Vanessa followed them as her father continued to ramble, using his free hand to pontificate about Great-Großmutter Zupermühltienatör’s cure for the common cold, which made Vanessa extremely grateful that she had never grown up in the old country. While drinking chamomile tea and eating pumpkin seeds didn’t sound so bad, eating spider webs to cure a fever? Especially with the spider attached? Gross!

Before she knew it, Dad had made Perry a small bed from half a plastic dome that was probably meant to be part of some trap, a couple of torn stained padded moving blankets and a few fuzzy fleece throws. He settled Perry down in the living area, where the platypus could clearly see them in the work area and kitchen if he raised his head a little bit.

“Alright, now you get some sleep." Dad half-scolded. "Vanessa will keep you company while I go check the medicine cabinet and see if we have any juice. I think I have some buffered aspirin or possibly some children’s. If you feel like you need it, you can have half a tablet, but only half, you hear me?”

Perry gave Dad an impatient look, which made Dad roll his eyes. “Alright, Mister Tough Guy Secret Agent.” Dad said mockingly. “You just lay there for a minute and I’ll be right back. Vanessa, don’t let him get anywhere just yet. I want to get at least some fluids in him before he vanishes.”

“Okay, Dad.” Vanessa nodded, sitting down on the sofa next to Perry’s makeshift bed, tucking her feet underneath her as she leaned over the arm to look at Perry. Dad had bundled Perry up tight like a papoose, it would take at least a shoe horn or an exacto knife to get him out.

“And no catching what he has either!” Dad scolded, stomping away, muttering about stupid nemesis who were too stubborn to call in sick for ONE DAY, even if their health depended on it.

Vanessa watched him go with some amusement, then turned and looked at Perry. He turned his gaze to her, giving her a weak reassuring smile. “You really don’t look so good.” Vanessa informed him, returning the smile. It didn’t fit quite right on her face, her mouth trying to smile and frown at the same time.

He sneezed, then sniffed in clear irritation, his nose running. “Ew. Hold on.” She scooted to the other side of the sofa and grabbed a box of tissues, bringing it back. Perry had managed to pry an arm free, his face wrinkled up as he fought off another sneeze.

“Here.” She offered him the box and he quickly grabbed a tissue, sneezing into it. He made a face and blew his nose, balling the tissue up. Vanessa glanced around and found a small trash can, putting it on the other side of Perry. He gave her a grateful look, tiredly dropping the used tissue into the bin.

“Dad’s going to want to sanitized the area after this, you do realise that.” Vanessa noted with amusement. Her Dad could be really funny sometimes, with his protective impulses.

Perry rolled his eyes as if to say ‘tell me about it’. This time she did smile, leaning forward to press her fingertips against Perry’s forehead, just under the hat. He was hot and sticky to the touch.

She remembered the first time she got to actually touch Perry. It was shortly after she’d switched over completely ‘to the side of evil’, Dad had caught Perry in some mechanical arms that held all of his limbs, including tail, immobile. Dad had called her over to show her something.

How soft Perry’s fur was.

Perry had put up with her petting the thick dense fur of his chest with a resigned air, as if acknowledging that yes, he was soft and fluffy. Could they **please** get past that to the part where he was a ‘suave, semi-aquatic personification of unstoppable dynamic fury', and she'd stopped after a few strokes.

Dad had then treated her to a brief lecture about always treating their nemesis with dignity and respect, which meant not snuggling and petting them like the cuddly animals that they appeared to be, but like the fearsome proud agents they were.

And then business had continued on from there. But she hadn’t forgotten how soft he’d been to the touch.

“Bet throwing you in the bathtub would make you feel good.” She mused as he pressed his head against her fingers with a quiet sigh. He sneezed again, grabbing a tissue and wiping his beak before plopping back into the nest of blankets. Maybe later, when he had more energy.

“Here. Orange juice.” Dad stomped back into the room, carrying a child’s sippy cup in one hand. He handed it to Perry, who didn’t take it, giving him a skeptical look instead. “What? I can’t believe I found it either.” Dad shrugged. “There’s a whole bunch of Vanessa’s old things from when she was little tucked in the cupboards. It’s really amazing. Maybe I should use it for a new device, a Toddler-inator or something.”

That earned him a full-fledged Perry glare. “ _Dad_.” Vanessa chided.

“What?” Dad blinked and looked at her in confusion. She sighed, crossing her arms across her chest in annoyance. “Oh, right! Right. No discussing evil in front of the secret agent. Here you go Perry the Platypus. No poisons, toxins, anything other than Orange Juice and what ever ‘Concentrate’ means. Evil Scouts Honour.”

Perry gave him one last incredulous look, as if to point out that while he wasn’t feeling well, he wasn’t **that** sick, then took the sippy cup, sulkily slurping some of the juice.

“There you go.” Dad absently patted Perry on the head. “I’m going to go see what else I can find. Maybe some echinacea or something. Vitamins might not be a bad idea either. Where’s my vitamin C?” He wandered off, muttering to himself.

Perry glanced over at Vanessa as if asking if her father was for real, still drinking out of the sippy cup.

“Yeah. He was like that with me when I was little too.” She deadpanned. Vanessa had somewhat hated it at the time, Dad being overbearing and overprotective, but now it was kind of endearing. “At least he cares.”

Perry thought it over, then nodded. He took a breath, wheezing a bit, then set the sippy cup to the side, leaning back in the blankets with a tired sigh. Vanessa picked up the top blanket and tucked it under his chin. “Don’t worry about Dad, I’ll keep him in line. You just rest and feel better.”

He let out another soft sigh, eyelids drooping as he quickly fell asleep. Perry must have been feeling really bad if he was willing to drop his guard enough to actually fall asleep inside their evil lair.

She watched him sleep for a little while, noting how fragile he really looked. For all his strength, Perry really as tiny. Only a few pounds in weight, and not even two feet tall.

And yet he did such amazing things.

Vanessa watched Norm lumber out, Dad shouting something about ginger tea after him. Silence filled the air for a few minutes, then she could hear Dad banging around in the kitchen. She adjusted Perry’s fedora on his head so it didn’t slip off and Dad wouldn’t mistake him for a lost pet yet again before getting up to walk over to her father.

He was muttering to himself as he threw stuff in a stew pot, rooting around in the cabinets. “Dad?” She ventured, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Oh, hey Vanessa.” He absently greeted her. “There’s chamomile tea brewing, I figured we could all do with a pot. How does soup sound for dinner? That’s a funny word isn’t it? ‘Soup’. Soooouuup. Sooup.”

“Soup’s fine, Dad.” She assured him, then got back on to the subject she was more concerned about. “Perry’s going to be alright, isn’t he?”

“Huh?” Dad looked up at her and blinked, pulling his train of thought to the present. “Oh! Yes, yes. He’ll be fine. I just slipped a little bit of powder into the juice to make him sleep better. There’s no such thing as Evil Scouts anyway. Perry the Platypus will be fine.”

“Yeah, but...” She hesitated. “He’s really _old_ , isn’t he? For a platypus?” It seemed like Perry had always been a staple in her life, it was hard now to remember a time when her parents hadn’t been split and her father wasn’t an evil scientist.

“Oh, that.” Dad waved it off. “I took care of that _ages_ ago. Like, five or so. Norm would know, he’s the one who gave me the idea. Perry the Platypus should live another 20, 30 years easy. Maybe not quite as long as a human, but well over double for a platypus not living in the wild.”

Vanessa stared at her Dad, who continued to putt around the kitchen, pulling out various spices and sniffing them. “You... Took care of that?”

“Well, sure.” He said it like it was obvious. “I couldn’t have him keeling over in old age on me, it'd be no fun without him. I’d have to break in a new secret agent as a nemesis, and after that whole debacle with Peter the Panda, it just didn’t seem worth the effort. Agents these days, they’re not polite at all. They’re _rude_ , just plain rude, tearing apart your Inator while you monologue. It was _much_ easier this way.”

Only her Dad would think it would be easier to re-write someone’s genetics to keep them alive longer than to fight someone new. “So... But... What about the fever?” She motioned towards the still sleeping agent. “And him getting sick right now?”

Dad shrugged and waved it off. “Everyone gets sick once in a while. Science can’t cure _everything_ y’know.” He peered at the jar in his hand. “Does this turmeric smell fresh to you?”

She leaned forward and sniffed the jar. “Not really.” Kind of stale, almost dusty smelling. Dad peered at it again, then capped the jar and threw it over his shoulder, into the trash can.

“So, just to recap.” Vanessa held up her hands. “Perry’s going to be okay.”

“Completely.” Dad assured her, opening up another jar and sniffing it. He made a face and put it back in the cupboard. “Give him a day or two and he’ll be right as rain. In the meantime, it gives me the chance to work out the kinks in my latest... Which Inator is this one?”

“Mime.” Vanessa deadpanned. Making everything completely silent so that people would be forced to pantomime at each other in order to communicate. Although why they couldn’t just text message each other was beyond her. It wouldn’t make it that much different from how it was now.

Brilliant her father was, smart he was not.

“Right. Mime-inator.” Dad nodded cheerfully. “But if it would make you feel better, I can do a little bit of blood work, see if the serum needs tweaking. I suppose it couldn’t hurt to update my notes on it too. If they haven’t been blown up.” He added thoughtfully.

Vanessa stared at her Dad for a moment before lunging towards him and wrapping him up in a hug. “You are the best Dad ever!” She squeaked. Only he would show concern through scientific experimentation. “And Nemesis. Totally evil. You rock.”

He laughed and patted her back. “Just think, some day you’ll have a nemesis too. We could team up and fight them together.”

“That also means that there’s two of them.” She pointed out with a grin, pulling away.

“Hm. True. And one nemesis is enough to keep my hands full as it is.” He mused, rubbing thoughtfully at his chin. “On second thought, you’re too young for a nemesis. Wait a few years until you’re older.”

“Just like getting a car.” She agreed dutifully. Which she had eventually gotten, after much begging on the part of her Mother once she’d turned sixteen.

But she was a responsible driver with no accidents on her record.

Well, official record anyway. Hovercraft totally didn’t count.

“Right.” Dad agreed. He paused for a moment. “Wait, when did you get a driver’s license?”

“ _DAD!_ ”

“Kidding! I’m kidding! Seriously though....”

There were days when she despaired of ever being anything other than his little girl.

Still, it wasn’t all bad.

* * *

A few hours later, her phone vibrated in her pocket and Vanessa glanced around. Norm was in his room and Dad was puttering around in the laboratory, working on ideas for future Inators until Perry was no longer out of commission.

Satisfied that everyone else was distracted, she picked up Perry, cradling him to her chest. He wheezed at her, making a soft chirring noise, then settled back down again.

He was so light. It really was kind of unsettling.

She snuck to the front door, undoing the lock and peering out.

Ferb held up a hand in greeting.

Vanessa smiled back, opening the door and stepping out into the hall. “Hey, Ferb. Thanks for answering my message.”

Ferb nodded. He was always happy to help a friend. His gaze flickered down at Perry, lingering worriedly.

“Dad says that Perry should be fine in a couple of days, it’s just touch of the flu. Lots of fluids and bed rest. We’re going to lay low for the next few days, give him a chance to get back up to fighting health.” She explained, passing Perry over to Ferb.

The green haired teen carefully cradled the platypus, large solid hands gentle for all their size and strength. Perry shifted, rubbing his beak against Ferb’s fingers, making a soft chirring sound, unlike the usual annoyed sound Perry usually made around her Dad. The platypus took a deep breath and went completely limp in Ferb’s grasp.

A platypus’ bill was extremely sensitive, hosting electroreception sensors to find their prey in the darkness underwater, much the same way sharks did. Perry probably knew what everyone felt like, even with all of his other senses out for the count, instinctively recognising Ferb and knowing he could trust the human.

Ferb smiled quietly in return, deftly removing the fedora and smoothing the ruffled sweaty fur on top of Perry’s head. A wrinkle between his eyes was the only indication how worried he was.

“There’s something else you should know.” Vanessa said quickly, reaching into her blouse and pulling a thumb drive out of her bra. “Dad did something to Perry a few years ago, to give him the life span of a human. I don’t understand it, but I’m hoping you might. All the information I could get is in here. I’ll get you more when I can.”

Ferb’s eyes went wide, then he thoughtfully nodded as he took the drive. “Thank you, Vanessa.” He said sincerely.

Vanessa ducked her head. “You’re welcome.” She said, fighting a small blush. He could fluster her so easily in ways no one else could. She gave his arm a shove. “Now get out of here before Dad or Norm notice we’re gone.”

Ferb tipped Perry’s at her with a small bow, then put it on his head and wandered off, Perry’s head resting against his shoulder. She watched them go with a small sad smile.

He was totally a sweet guy. Too sweet for her. Although he’d probably make a pretty good secret agent.

Vanessa sighed and slipped back inside, glancing around to see if anyone had noticed her absence. Seeing no one she slipped back to the sofa, pulling out a magazine and continuing reading about the latest evil fashions. Apparently, Pink was the ‘New Black’.

Bah. She’d stick to black until she found something darker.

“Vanessa?” Dad’s voice pulled her out of her musings. “Where’s Perry?”

“Friend of his picked him up.” She said with a insolent shrug. “Took him home.”

“Didn’t even say good-bye.” Dad muttered. “Curse you, Perry the Platypus.”

“Um... Dad? He was pretty out of it.” Vanessa reminded him. “Drugged juice, remember?”

“Oh. Ohh, yeah.” Dad grinned. The expression faded. “Are you sure this friend of his is trust-worthy? That he’ll get him home safe? Not like _Francis_.”

… Neither Dad or Major Monogram seemed to be able to get along. It was always awkward around the two of them. “I’m sure, Dad.” She smiled. “This one seems like a good guy. Regular knight in shining armour and all that.”

This earned her a suspicious look. “It wasn’t... _Carl_ was it? You’re not spending time with him, are you? Can’t stand that intern. So annoying.”

“No, Dad.” She rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t Carl. Trust me, I have **way** better taste than that.”

“Okay, good.” He nodded, pleased. He then stretched, reaching his full height for a few seconds before slouching back down. “So what do you want to do? Got a few days to plan things out, no reason for the usual rush. You want to play Parcheesi? Or what about Skiddley Whiffers? We haven’t played that in ages.”

“Skiddley Whiffers sounds good, Dad.” She set the magazine aside. “Let’s ask Norm if he wants to play too. It’s more fun with more people.”

“Oh, alright.” Dad grumbled. “But I get to be the Fedora. Perry the Platypus always steals it first and I end up being the Sneaker.”

“Dibs on the Nose!” Norm’s voice boomed out, the giant squirrel powered robot lumbering into the living room.

“... And Norm picks his nose.” Vanessa commented dryly as she went to pull the game out of the hall closet. At least she knew where it was.

“Either that or the Unicorn.” Norm agreed cheerfully.

“Not the Hair Dryer?” Dad snarked, crossing his arms.

“I am already a mechanical being. I see no reason in being another one if I can be something different.” Norm informed them, sitting down in front of the living room table.

“Dibs on the Car.” Vanessa called, finding the box and pulling it out.

“No driving!” Dad shouted. She rolled her eyes.

“Fine. What about the Sneaker?” Vanessa asked as she shut the closet door and wandered back.

“Don’t you want to be the Unicorn?” Dad looked confused.

“Do I _look_ like I’m into pink and fluffy?” She demanded. “Tell you what, I’ll be the Hair Dryer.”

“Alright.” Dad agreed, sitting down on the sofa. “You certainly take long enough in the bathroom with it in the morning.” He added in a low mutter.

“It’s the price of beauty.” Vanessa informed him sitting down next to him. “And your genetics. Mom’s hair looks great, but I inherited your tangled mess.”

“Eh, you should have seen her hair when it was longer. Makes mine look shellacked.” Dad shrugged as they unloaded the board and set everything up. They all took their respective pieces. “Alright, so who goes first?”

“Ladies first.” Norm said cheerfully.

Dad glanced between them. Vanessa shrugged. “Works for me.” She agreed.

“Okay, I’m second.” Dad agreed.

“And I’ll go third!” Norm bounced slightly. “Oh, what fun!”

Vanessa laughed, grabbing the die and rolling.

Whoever said that being evil wasn’t all fun and games had no idea what they were talking about.

-fin-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some changes have been made to how long Perry should live, since we now have a canon age for Doofenshmirtz in the show.  
> If Doofenshmirtz is currently 47, he's 67 in Quantum Boogaloo, with an extremely old looking Perry the Platypus being 26 or 27, which is still older than the currently oldest recorded age for a platypus.  
> And yes, cobwebs (with spider!) are an old folklore to cure fevers.


	3. A Posse ad Esse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What Ferb's been doing behind the scenes in the past 3 chapters.

* * *

**A Posse ad Esse.**  
 _From Possibility to Actuality._

* * *

Ferb had always liked mysteries. Twisted plot-lines, legends, tales of derring do, epic adventures, those were his chosen literature and detective novels usually provided all of the above. He could usually tell who it was within the first few chapters, but he enjoyed the rush, the ride to the big reveal.

But the thing about Spy novels boiled down to one thing.

It didn't matter how snazzy of a dresser you were, how awesome of a martial artist, or cool headed under pressure you were. Whoever had the coolest toys walked away at the end of the day.

And Ferb had the coolest toys.

He felt kind of bad for not inviting Phineas in on this small adventure considering their recent misunderstanding, but he needed proof to bring to his brother.

That and Vanessa's words, that Perry was her father's nemesis Agent P, rang a bit of a chord in his head. Like an almost forgotten dream that was itching to come out. He just had to remember what it was.

Wearing a pair of X-ray specs and staring at the hole behind the portrait above the sofa in the living room made the back of his neck itch, like it wasn't a surprise at all that there was a tunnel leading underground there. He could almost feel the wind rushing past him, like the world's most epic fun slide, only he was much too big to fit in such a tiny hole now.

Their entire house was riddled with secret passage ways. There wasn't a room in their house that didn't have at least one tunnel leading below, outside the X-ray glasses' range.

Outside their house was just as bad. Their favourite tree to sit against in the back yard had one at the base. The side of the house, the back step, the rubbish bins, all had more tunnels and entrances. Some of the tunnels joined up across the street, to Isabella's house. None of the other houses in their neighbourhood had tunnels like theirs. As he watched, Isabella's chihuahua Pinky stood up on her hindlegs, put on a fedora, stepped through a door in a wall that opened for her, and was whisked away by one of the tubes.

Interesting.

It took a little bit of scanning, but he found two entrances that would fit someone of his large shoulders. One that looked like a maintenance staircase for humans leading down, and an elevator in the chimney.

He stared at the chimney for several minutes, trying to see if he could find any security systems other than the one that sealed the entrance, then pulled out a watch, attaching it to his wrist.

It was an upgraded version of their 'Phase Orb' they'd invented when they were younger, which scrambled their molecules so they could pass through solid objects. This also allowed him to pass through solid walls, but did so by making him just slightly out of sync with the dimension, like how they theorised some ghosts came around. It certainly created the spooky transparent shadowy effect.

It also had the advantage of not setting off alarm systems, since he technically wasn't 'there'.

Ferb triggered it and walked through the fireplace wall, stopping in the middle. He hovered for a moment, playing with the dial of the watch to decrease the phase, then started to slowly float downwards, gravity exercising its massive mastery on his translucent form.

The tunnel was well maintained, reasonably free of decay and insects. It looked like it had been around for a while, at least around a decade if the style of the materials were anything to go by.

Once he hit the car sitting at the bottom of the elevator, he increased the phase again, stopping the downward fall, and stuck his head through the doors.

The room was beautiful. Large high ceilings, the walls covered in high-tech armour, weapons and vehicles. A giant computer took up almost one entire wall, immediately drawing his eye to it. He stepped through the doors, staring up the series of vacuum tubes in the ceiling, no doubt for transporting Perry around.

He had the weirdest sense of deja vu, like he had been there before. But he would certainly hope he remembered some place like this.

The chair in front of the computer was tiny, smaller than would be comfortable for a full grown human, the keyboard and computer system set up for someone with much smaller hands.

Perry's Lair. Their family pet platypus really was a secret agent.

Phineas was going to be _so_ annoyed. Perry probably went on some seriously epic adventures without them.

A whooshing sound alerted him to company and he ducked behind a deep sea underwater suit, uncertain as to how well someone other than a human might sense him. A teal platypus walked in on its hindlegs, stretching as it yawned. Ferb watched as the platypus idly scratched right above its tail bone, eyes half-lidded as it sleepily smacked its beak together, obviously not awake yet.

"Perry?" Ferb whispered as he realised who it was. He hadn't actually quite believed that Vanessa's father's dynamic nemesis could actually be their sleepy pet, but the fading boot shaped bruises on the tail were visible proof that they really were the same platypus.

Perry's gaze instantly sharpened to a laser focus, zooming in on where Ferb was standing. He froze, waiting to see what Perry would do. The platypus glanced around, obviously scanning for any signs of someone being there, then shrugged, dismissing it. Perry wandered over to a small coffee pot tucked off to one side, poured himself a cup and meandered to the large computer, typing in the password and starting up a few programs.

Ferb watched as Perry filled out a few official looking reports, checked his email, and sent off a few replies. taking occasional slurps of coffee, looking more and more awake as he did so. It was kind of like watching Mom stumble around the kitchen first thing in the morning, it taking a little while for her to finally wake up to face the day.

Perry seemed to reach an end to his reports and mail, doing a quick glance around the room, like he was about to do something he shouldn't. He pulled out a small drive from somewhere on him, plugging it into the computer. A small window popped up and Perry opened it.

Photographs.

Perry had photographs of Ferb and Phineas. Candid shots, of the two of them working on projects from the past week.

Ferb watched as Perry's bill curved into a small smile as the platypus sorted through them, saving what were obviously his favourites into a folder on the computer's hard drive. Perry clicked through some of the folders, all labeled by date. Ferb watched as they all de-aged in front of his eyes, Perry having years worth of photos saved. Most of them featuring Phineas and Ferb working on various projects, or in various stages of play or relaxation, but there were a few of Candace, their parents, and friends.

Perry paused on some photos of them from elementary school, the standing platypus' head coming to their shoulders. Perry was wearing a dark brown fedora, the three of them in a place that Ferb didn't recognise. He certainly hoped he would have remembered the angry cube-shaped creature in a cage with massive teeth.

The cursor hovered over a report at the bottom of the folder, Perry staring at the photos with a wistful expression. A chirping sound made both of them startle, Perry quickly sliding out of the chair and taking the coffee cup back over to the coffee maker, quickly rinsing it out and setting to down before jogging back to his seat.

Perry plopped down in his seat, pulling the dark brown fedora from somewhere and settling it on his head. As strange as realising that their vacant-eyed lethargic pet was actually this intelligent creature, seeing the transformation into sharp-eyed hard boiled secret agent was even more shocking.

The large monitor flickered, then a white haired mustached man appeared on the screen. "Ah, Agent P. Right on time I see." The man deep voice rumbled. "Excellent. It seems like Doctor Doofenshmirtz is up to his usual bag of tricks. I don't know how or why, but he's collected all the left socks in the Tri-State area. We don't know what he's going to do with them, but I'm sure it's something villainous. You know what to do, get out there and stop him. Major Monogram out!"

Perry saluted and dashed off, with a serious expression on his face, being sucked up into one of the tubes and disappeared. The screen flickered to black, then came back up on the folder that Perry had been looking at before he'd gotten his assignment.

Ferb glanced around, then walked forward, setting himself to a bit more solid. He knelt down, clicking through the pictures of their younger selves with 'Agent P'. It really seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember, much to his frustration. He would have thought he would remember sticking a 'Reboot Me' sign on the back of a scary looking floating mechaniod.

He came to the report and after a moment of wrestling with his conscience, he clicked on it. It was written in the dry boring terms that most official paperwork was, reporting himself and Phineas meeting with Vanessa's father and helping him fix an 'Inator', which opened a hole into another dimension, that they then became trapped in.

The report glossed over much of what happened, barely touching on the scenes depicted in the photographs, but the conclusion was quite disquieting.

They had all chosen to have their memories of the day erased by a refurbished 'Amnesia-Inator' rather than to have Perry re-assigned to another household. Which was why everything seemed like it should be familiar, but wasn't. His mind was trying to remember what it had been told to forget.

While he agreed with his younger self's choice, he still wished they had known. They might have been able to help Perry. Maybe not with missions, but morale support. And some of their gadgets could probably be of use.

Such as the ones Ferb was using now.

He clicked a link on the form, leading to the details on the Amnesia-Inator. Ferb brought the information up on the screen, pulling out his phone and snapping photos of the blueprints and the reports on it. He would probably remember enough of the details to re-create it, but it never hurt to have a back up.

Ferb backed up to the folder with them on an adventure in a different dimension and stood up, taking one last look around the room. It certainly wasn't what he was expecting when he decided to investigate. He changed the watch setting clicked his heels together, activating the jet boots, launching him up through the ceiling and back home.

Well, at least now he knew where Perry always disappeared to.

* * *

The plans for the Amnesia-Inator were actually quite large and clunky. There was genius in the design, undeniably so, but the application needed work. The fact that the technology was several years old didn't help.

However, reversing the effects was easier than he thought. The Amnesia-inator didn't completely _erase_ the memories, something that could have caused brain damage, but blocked the memories from recall. Tricking the mind to forget that it was forgetting something.

So after some thought, Ferb pulled out some blueprint paper and redesigned a reverse for it in a more portable form. It wasn't quite as cool as a flashing stick, looking more like a slightly over-sized hairdryer. Phineas looked over his shoulder a few times, then hesitantly pointed out a few flaws as if he wasn't sure if Ferb would welcome them or not. With some quiet encouragement, Ferb turned it into a project for the two of them, Phineas liking the idea of finding a way to help people remember things they forgot.

Still, even with Phineas' help, it took more courage than he cared to admit to aim the Remember-inator at his head and pull the trigger.

The missing day's memories came flooding back, as sharp as if everything had happened the day before. The Platypults, the giant Badminton, meeting Vanessa's father, finding the other dimension. Certain doom, escaping, meeting up with their other selves, then going back for Perry. Fighting, escaping, returning to this dimension, then fighting here with all the stuff they had made over the past summer.

While it was wickedly cool, it was somewhat disturbing.

Their toys.... used for weapons of mass destruction. Humans were a lot more fragile than robots, even robots with self-destruct buttons on the back. If the other Doctor Doofenshmirtz had gotten a hold of their inventions, or their alternate dimension selves once they started creating, it wouldn't have just been their dimensions in trouble, but all of them.

The images still haunted him a few days later when Phineas brought up plans for the future. When he was younger, he imagined having a place in town, like a skyscraper with tonnes of room for all their friends to meet up for endless get-togethers and parties.

Now he pondered security and ways to keep their inventions of the hands of less scrupulous people. They were both fairly innocent and naive in a lot of ways, Phineas more so than Ferb, and he wanted to preserve that child-like joy in Phineas. The urge to reach out to others and make every day the best day ever was something to be cherished and encouraged.

There had to be a way to strike a balance between security and helping people.

But to figure that out, he was going to need Phineas knowing what was going on.

* * *

Phineas had been frantic with worry when Ferb got the text from Vanessa that Perry was over at Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc.

They had known that Perry wasn't feeling well lately, the platypus having trouble breathing and being warm to the touch. They'd bathed him before school, Mom promising to keep an eye on their sick family member.

And yet when they got home, Perry was missing. They'd searched high and low for him, Phineas becoming more and more panicked. Ferb as well, even if he didn't emote his concern in the same manner his brother did. They both knew that Perry was getting on in years. The thought that their pet may have gone off to die crossed his mind more than once.

So Vanessa's message that Perry was still alive was a vast relief.

He told Phineas he had an idea where Perry might be and would be right back, driving his scooter as fast as he could legally get away with without taking to the sky. It gave him a chance to get his worry under control before he arrived.

Ferb was reasonably calm by the time knocked on the door labeled Doofenshmirtz on the top floor, but he still caught himself almost fidgeting as he waited. The door opening and the sight of Vanessa's blue eye staring at him was a welcome one.

“Hey, Ferb." Vanessa smiled, the warm expression on her face making her glow slightly. "Thanks for answering my message.”

Ferb nodded back, always happy to hear from her. Especially when it concerned helping a friend. He stared at Perry, who was wrapped up like an infant in a dark teal blanket, cradled in her arms. The platypus was breathing some what hard, a small wheezing sounds coming from his sweat stained fur.

“Dad says that Perry should be fine in a couple of days, it’s just touch of the flu." Vanessa assured him, carefully handing Perry to Ferb. "Lots of fluids and bed rest. We’re going to lay low for the next few days, give him a chance to get back up to fighting health.”

He cradled Perry in his hands, marvelling at how tiny Perry seemed at the moment. When they were younger, Perry seemed so solid and sturdy. It used to take both arms around Perry's chest to pick him up, now the platypus fit in the crook of one arm.

Perry made a sleepy chirring sound, the same one he made sometimes at night if they had left the bed for any reason and was wondering where they were. Perry rubbed his usually cool duckbill against Ferb's fingers, then took a deep breath and relaxed, content now that he knew at least one of the brothers was near.

The measure of trust was heartening. Even if Perry was some sort of butt-kicking world-class secret agent, he was still theirs.

Ferb removed the fedora from Perry's head, smoothing the resulting hat hair out. He was still running a pretty high fever, it was probably time for another bath to cool him down. Even if it was just a touch of the flu, it could still have lingering effects on their ancient platypus. Neither he or Phineas were ready for Perry to 'go live on kindly Old Man Simmons' farm', like Bucky had.

Vanessa seemed to catch his train of thought. "There's something else you should know, distracting him by reaching in through the collar of her shirt and pulling something out. She offered a thumb drive to him. “Dad did something to Perry a few years ago, to increase his lifespan by a couple of decades. I don’t understand it, but I’m hoping you might. All the information I could get is in here. I’ll get you more when I can.”

... Increasing Perry's lifespan by decades. He'd never considered such a thing, genetics not being his area of expertise. Phineas better at living things. But with that, they wouldn't have to worry about the platypus disappearing from their lives for a very long time. "Thank you, Vanessa." He murmured, feeling much more at ease about the chances of Perry's recovery.

He was treated to the sight of Vanessa blushing slightly, which she tried to hide by ducking her head. "You're welcome." She muttered, then gave his arm a brusque shove. "Now get out of here before Dad or Norm notice we're gone."

And have to explain what he was doing with their secret agent. He gave her a slightly theatrical bow, adding a flourish with the small fedora before placing it on his head. He'd had a similar one when they were kids that fit a lot better than this one. He shifted Perry up against his shoulder, Perry pressing his bill against Ferb's neck and making a snuffling sound, as if worried that Ferb was the one who might vanish.

He left Perry where he was until he reached the scooter, where he was faced with the conundrum of how to get Perry home. He needed two hands to drive. After a moment's thought, He undid his belt, then used it to fasten Perry to his chest. He pulled out the jacket from the storage compartment under the seat, and put it on, zipping it up to Perry's head so the platypus could breath, but was protected by the wind.

Satisfied that would work, he put on his helmet and carefully drove home, hyper aware of the platypus cradled against his chest. Perry slept through it, shifting enough to tuck his head in the fabric to get his face out of the wind.

"Ferb!" Phineas anxiously greeted him on the driveway as he pulled up. "Did you find him?!"

Ferb gave Phineas a thumbs up as he turned the bike off, unzipping the jacket and sliding Perry free. Phineas' face light up as he took Perry, the platypus repeating the snuffling sounds as he pressed his beak against Phineas' neck. "Where was he?"

He debated the answer before setting on that Perry was at a friend's house. Phineas felt Perry's head, worrying about how warm the platypus was, taking him inside for a cool bath as Ferb put his bike away. His phone rang as he was about to head inside, another text from Vanessa, informing him that her Dad had drugged Perry to give him something to hopefully sleep the illness off, and that Perry should be waking up soon. He thanked her before heading back inside.

Phineas had Perry in the bathroom sink, using a rag to clean the matted sweat from Perry's fur, careful to keep the still slumbering platypus' head and bill out of the water. Ferb watched them for a moment, feeling his stomach clench. Phineas hadn't reacted well the last time he found out that Perry was leading a double life, lies and falsehood being nearly anathema to Phineas' being.

Hopefully this time would go smoother. If nothing else, knowing that Perry wasn't on death's door would help ease his brother's mind.

* * *

Perry's fever broke during the night, but he was still wheezing the next morning as they got ready for school, the platypus watching them with half lidded eyes. Phineas rambled at Perry as he scurried around, unusually absentminded. Mom promised to keep a stricter eye on Perry today and Ferb assured his brother that his friend would call again if Perry showed up.

Vanessa texted him at lunch, letting him know that her father was ranting about vitamins and making sure that Perry got plenty of fluids to drink, which he promised to pass along.

He didn't understand Vanessa's father. The man was a brilliant inventor, obviously loved his family, was on a friendly basis with his arch-nemesis, yet was also a villain trying to take over the Tri-State area. And from his memories in the other dimension, a very serious villain indeed. If he ever got to power.

Ferb made a mental note to ask someone to make sure that he never went quite as strange, but he wasn't sure who would be a good judge of that.

Mom also messaged them, letting them know that Perry was still around and sleeping. Isabella joined them for a while, asking about Perry and distracting Phineas with some small talk, catching up. Ferb didn't mind, quietly finishing his lunch and prodding his brother to eat an occasional bite. They were still growing and Phineas had some ways to go if he wanted to catch up to Ferb's height.

The last part of school seemed to drag on forever. He went through the information Vanessa had given him about the alterations to Perry's lifespan, but most of it didn't make sense to him and he reluctantly set it aside to go over with Phineas.

They hurried home after school, rushing to check on Perry. The platypus was looking better, if still exhausted. He was curled up on his bed in the kitchen, a half-drunk bowl of water next to him. Mom hugged them both, assuring them that Perry was going to be fine, but there was a worried look in her eye that said she didn't know if she was lying or not.

Phineas probably would have been content to do his homework on the kitchen floor to be near Perry, but Ferb tugged him away. With Perry firmly in one location for a while, it was the perfect time to slip away without being followed, before the secret agent became mobile again.

He pulled out his mobile phone, tapping the transporter app and wrapping a hand around his brother's wrist as he held the phone up to Phineas, instructing him to name a random city in the world. Phineas gave him a strange look. "Go to Barcelona."

A blurring of the world, and they appeared in a dark city street, strange scents and sounds filling the air. Ferb held the phone to his mouth. "Go to Easter Island."

The world blurred again, and they found themselves next to a giant stone head. He held the phone to Phineas again. "Go to Denver." Phineas shrugged and the world faded out once more.

In retrospect, Denver may have been a mistake. It was freezing cold. "Go to the skycraper on the moon." Ferb instructed, shifting closer to Phineas.

When the world returned, it was black and white, sticking out at strange angles, impossible to tell which way is up. Phineas looked around in surprise. "Where are we?"

Ferb glanced around. MC Escher room. It was probably one of the few room in the skyscraper that still had atmosphere, having to seal it in order to keep the anti-gravity effect. Phineas snapped his fingers, remembering it now that he was prompted.

"So, Ferbmiester." Phineas gave him a confused look. "Why the need for secrecy? What's going on?"

Ferb debated the best way to inform Phineas about what was going on, then decided that the best way was probably the simplest. He pulled out the Remember-inator and shot his brother in the head.

Phineas gave a small cry, sinking to his knees and Ferb moved quickly to catch him. They ended propping each other up, and Ferb carefully shifted them until they were kneeling on the ground, or what passed for ground in the confusing room.

"Perry's... A secret agent?" Phineas whispered. Ferb nodded in confirmation.

"Oh." Phineas stared at him for a moment, placing one hand over his lips. Ferb watched with some concern as Phineas started chortling, still covering his mouth.

"Isabella kissed me!" Phineas squeaked, then laughed harder. "And I was... I was going to ask if this meant if she LIKED me when the flash went off!" He howled, doubling over with the force of his chuckles.

Ferb held on to Phineas' shoulders as his brother laughed for a minute or two before winding down. Ferb had actually sort of forgotten that part, his attention being on Perry and the whole 'other dimension' sort of thing. "Sorry, bro." Phineas finally hiccuped. "It just kinda.... That would have saved us a lot of trouble, wouldn't it?"

Possibly. Ferb shrugged, feeling ambivalent to it at the moment. There was other things that required more attention than musing on might have beens.

Although regaining a missing day's memories, especially _that_ day's memories was a lot to take in. The best day ever. Not only had they saved Danville, but a second dimension as well. There was a lot of context and emotion to get through.

Phineas frowned, shaking his head as if trying to clear it. "So many other dimensions out there. Wow. And that's where Perry goes every day. Off to fight evil."

Ferb nodded, releasing his brother and leaning back on his heels as Phineas seemed to find his centre again.

"How'd you find out?" Phineas finally asked, shifting to sit down.

Ferb let him go, reaching into a pocket and pulling out the 'So You've Discovered Your Pet is a Secret Agent' pamphlet, handing it to Phineas.

"Oh." The light went on in Phineas' eyes. "Wait. Is this the same one from back then-?"

He shook his head, remembering Vanessa giving it to him as a joke, not having any idea of where it would lead.

"Doctor D. Vanessa Doofenshmirtz. Duh." Phineas slapped his forehead. "You know, I really wasn't sure if you were joking or not when you said that Vanessa had turned into a villianess trying to take over the Tri-state area."

Ferb waggled a hand. She was. Sort of. It was complicated, but he'd explain it later. One major shock at a time.

Although it was difficult to picture how a pointy looking guy like Doofenshmirtz could end up with a stunningly attractive daughter.

Phineas sighed, flipping through the pamphlet, actually skimming it this time. "So Perry couldn't let us know, or the organisation he works for would take him away. So what do we do now that we know? You must have had an idea or two."

Ferb shrugged. The major thing was to pretend not to notice any slip-ups, now that they knew what they were looking at. In the meantime, they'd do what they could to help him. They loved him, and Perry loved them. They weren't going to let Perry get taken away from them that easily. Perry was family.

Phineas mulled the thought over and Ferb could see the invention ideas coming to mind, what they could make to help Perry. Ferb wasn't sure he entirely trusted the O.W.C.A.'s technology, reverse engineering could be tricky.

Speaking of which, he pulled out a small pile of folded papers and handed them to Phineas, who took them and shuffled through them. "Wait... So Doctor D _re-wrote_ Perry's genetic code so he'll live for a really long time?" He gave Ferb a skeptical look. "Doctor D, the same guy who is trying to take over the Tri-State area and enslave everyone who is in it?"

Ferb nodded. By this point he'd given up trying to figure out what was going on in the head of Vanessa's Father.

"Okay, that just hurts my head." Phineas set the papers down. "But long story short, Perry's going to be okay? He's not quite as old as we think he is?"

Ferb nodded energetically. Doofenshmirtz was a bit of a whack-job, but he really was brilliant. They could trust Perry's safety around him to a certain extent.

At least he wasn't _actively_ trying to kill Perry. Unless talking him to death counted.

"Even if he wasn't, it doesn't seem likely that Perry'll just stop chasing Doctor D." Phineas mused, rubbing his chin. "What will he do when we move out of the house? I'd love to take Perry with us, but his base is under there, that can't be something easy to move."

Ferb shrugged. He hoped they would be able to figure something out together. Phineas was their Idea Man.

For all they knew, the entire Tri-State area could be littered with tunnels concealing secret animal agents whooshing from one area to another.

Phineas nodded, mulling it over some more until he got distracted by the shifting architecture. "I'd forgotten about this place." He mused. So many of their projects just vanished, they usually didn't stop to wonder where they went. "It'd make a pretty good hide out."

It really would. Ferb glanced around. The average distance between the surface of the Earth and the surface of the Moon was approximately 238,855 miles, putting their building at around that tall. It was an awkward height though, and likely to be hit by visiting space craft.

They could probably cut it into quarters and put it together at the base to make bigger rooms, turn it into a storage area and a base for their visitors from outer space. Between Meap and Garbog, they'd gotten quite a reputation for being able to help extraterrestrial visitors to the area in case of unexpected repairs.

And buying moon property was notoriously cheap. People still didn't believe it was livable up here. Didn't they have cows up here at some point? He made a mental note to go check on them, see if the grass actually did create an atmosphere. That could be potentially useful as well.

Although until they did get some sort of atmosphere up here, it might not be a bad idea send two or three Phinedroids and Ferbots to make alterations and set the place up as a base. And if they needed a building in a hurry, they could just section off a piece and send it back down to Earth. There was plenty of materials up here.

"Oh!" Phineas startled, distracted by something in his head. "Robots! All the inventions from that summer..."

Not all of them. Ferb had done some checking in their log books. Only the inventions that could be used to fight had been created. The phase orb, the splitter, their space ships and a few other things hadn't been included.

"That's why you were so gung ho about security." Phineas stared at him with bright eyes. "Anything _can_ be used as a weapon. And that Second Dimension Doctor D, if he'd gotten his hands on them or the alternate version us..." He shuddered.

Ferb nodded, having already gone down similar thought patterns. Although he wouldn't mind peering through the dimensional rift one more time, just to see how their other selves were doing after the defeat of their evil Doctor Doofenshmirtz.

"Okay. Maybe more than one base then?" Phineas offered hopefully. "At least one we could have people over for stuff? Like when we did the beach. Or S'Winter. That was nice."

Ferb nodded, liking the idea. They did lots of different kinds of things, having different locations for them might not be a bad idea. Separate branches depending on what the idea was. And while security was a good idea, they did do a lot of things with large groups of people. They couldn't cut themselves off completely just because of what a few bad apples might do.

"One in Danville." Phineas smiled, staring upwards. Or downwards, it was hard to tell in the room. "One here. Maybe some others once we really start going. I like of having someplace close to Grandma Winifred and Grandpa Reg, especially for when the entire family gets together."

Ferb nodded at that. They were a bit big to be sharing a cot together due to lack of space at the Fletcher Homestead. Phineas had really pointy elbows and no compunctions about using them in his sleep.

There were a couple of locations around the world they could use for bases that were outside of the 'normal' spectrum, depending on what the adventure was. Ferb made a mental note to flip through the log book at sometime and start making diagrams.

"We can expand as needed." Phineas added with a wide grin. This was just the start, but the world wasn't going to know what hit it when they got going on the large scale. They had the time, the funds and the space for their Big Ideas.

"Oh, yeah." Phineas snapped his fingers. "Speaking of which, we're going to need a name. 'Phineas and Ferb'? 'Flynn-Fletcher'? 'P-n-F'? Got any ideas?"

Ferb thought it over. They often used different titles, depending on what the idea was.

Although he did have one clear cut thought as to naming.

"Nothing 'Incorporated'."

-fin-


	4. Veritas Vos Liberabit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Perry faces some life choices.

**Veritas Vos Liberabit**  
 _The Truth Shall Make You Free_

* * *

There was something.... _off_ about his lair. 

Other than a few select agents wandering through his secret sanctum, buried deep underground where the mass majority of the humans above couldn't find it, no one should have been in his lair without his or the O.W.C.A.'s knowledge. Security was tight, various entrances opening at certain strategic times, only available for a few seconds before becoming immobile again. Unless there was a serious malfunction, in which case he would have gotten a notification about someone.

And yet, someone had here. His instincts screamed at him that something was different, someone had been here that shouldn't have. 

Then he spotted it.

A single sheet of paper, taped to the bottom of the monitor. 

Perry glanced around, wary of an attack at at any moment, from any direction. Doofenshmirtz had no clue where he lived, as either Perry or Agent P, neither did his daughter. And as far as he knew, the only people who did know that the Flynn-Fletcher's placid pet platypus was a secret agent were the senior members of the O.W.C.A..

That didn't mean that there couldn't be other secret organisations out there. 

For a moment, he wondered if it was simply to inform him that the monitor wasn't working, then dismissed it as silly. Monogram would have contacted him via the wrist communicator if that had happened. Therefore it had to be something else. 

He did a somersault, zig-zagging behind cover as he approached the monitor, wondering if it was some sort of trap that would activate as soon as it got in range. 

Perry paused with his back to his chair, then slowly edged around it, his gaze flickering between the paper and the area around him. 

And then he recognised the handwriting on the paper and felt his world drop around him. Without any regard to if it might have been a trap, he reached up and pulled the note down. 

It was Phineas' cheerful looping handwriting.

_'Hey, Perry!_

_As you know, Ferb and I planning on moving out in a couple of months, and we'd like for you to come with us. We're going to be checking out some potential properties on Saturday morning._

_If you're interested in coming to live with Ferb and me, just meet us by the front door at 8am, and we'll go together to find somewhere that fits the three of us._

_If not, we'll know you're staying here with Mom and Dad, and that's cool too._

_Take care of yourself out there, and we'll see you later!_

_Love,  
Phineas_ **AND F ERB**'

There was a PS at the bottom in Ferb's careful block print. 

**'T HIS NOTE WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN 3...**

**2...**

**1... '**

The paper crumbled to fine microfilaments in his hands, which dissolved into a fine silver dust that floated away. 

Perry stared in horror at his now empty hands, speckled with the silver powder. 

They knew. 

Phineas and Ferb, his **boys** , they knew his secret. They knew he was a secret agent. But how? When?! Had he slipped up somehow?

The monitor flickered, turning on and he had just enough time to grab his hat and shoved it on his head as Major Monogram appeared on the big screen. He tuned out most of the Major's blathering, it rarely differentiated, focusing on trying to figure out how his boys knew about his secret life. 

He saluted at the end and dashed off to fight Doofenshmirtz, like always, but his head wasn't in the game. He almost missed his cue to stop Doofenshmirtz after the nearly obligatory monologue about his current motivation, leaving them to stare awkwardly at each other for a few seconds before Perry remembered to spring into action. 

The world was going to be in serious trouble the day Doofenshmirtz failed to install a self-destruct button on one of his 'Inators'. It was almost as if the human's sub-consciousness was trying to keep him from succeeding. Which really, was a good thing. 

"Wait! Wait, Perry the Platypus!" Doofenshmirtz waved a hand as he pulled himself out of the rubble. "Time out! Are you okay?" He asked, his voice a curious mix of annoyed and concerned. "You didn't really seem _with_ it today. Are you fully recovered from being sick? You seemed fine yesterday, is your fever returning?" 

Perry froze, staring at Doofenshmirtz. He had been sick the previous week, but he didn't remember coming here. He'd dreamt of work, but he did that occasionally. Usually of never ending briefings where Major Monogram complained that he didn't get nearly the same amount of musical numbers as everyone else. Even Carl had a theme song, which he'd gotten to sing at least twice.

"What? You don't remember?" Doofenshmirtz crossed his arms, looking slightly surprised. "You crashed in here, literally crashed, then tried to fight me while falling over every 30 seconds. So I called a time out, Vanessa and I put you to bed to sleep it off, and a few hours later Vanessa said that a friend of yours picked you up and took you... where ever. I don't know. Aruba? You don't remember any of that?"

Perry shook his head. 

"Huh." Doofenshmirtz shrugged. "Well, you could verify it with Vanessa, but she's currently having lunch with my brother _Roger_." He made a face at the word, then lowered his voice. "Between you and me, I think he's trying to recruit her for mayoral purposes, the fink." 

Perry shrugged. There were worse lines of work. 

"Huh. Well anyway." Doofenshmirtz shrugged. "Curse you Perry the Platypus and all that. I have to make a goulash for the neighbourhood association meeting later tonight if you want to join me in the cooking. Only a little bit of evil in it, promise."

Perry shook his head, but tipped his fedora in thanks before he walked out to the balcony and jumped off, the his parachute carrying him to safety far below. 

If he had come to Doofenshmirtz's headquarters while running a high fever, how had he gotten home? There was nothing in O.W.C.A. reports about how he got home, merely that he had stopped Doofenshmirtz yet again. 

Although he didn't remember submitting a report either. 

Curious and curiouser... 

Once he got home, he tore through his security systems, trying to find any leak, any breach that could account for it. All the exits were properly sealed, there had been no attempted break-ins, the camera system didn't seem to be malfunctioning yet, there was no sign of how the note appeared. One second there was nothing there, then between one camera frame and another, a note appeared on the monitor. 

And if his boys did know about his other life, how long had they known? He wracked his brain for any sign that he might have slipped up and blown his cover, but he couldn't remember them acting any different than normal. Well, aside from that fight a few months back. 

He investigated their room and their work area for anything that might have given him away. His continued presence at the Flynn-Fletcher house rested firmly on the fact that no one knew he was anything other than an ordinary platypus that didn't do much. If the O.W.C.A. had even a hint that Ferb and Phineas knew about his double life, he'd be re-assigned in a matter of minutes. 

"We're home!" Phineas' joyous shout echoed through the house, and Perry glanced at the clock, realising that it was now after school. The day had flown by while he'd been involved in trying to solve this mystery. 

Tucking his fedora away, he wandered up to greet them, like he usually did upon their return from school. "Oh, there you are Perry!" Phineas cheerfully exclaimed, scooping down to pick him up once his jacket had been stashed in the front closet. "How did your day go, boy?"

Perry chirred in response, his standard answer making Phineas laugh. Ferb reached over and gently scratched the top of Perry's head in greeting. 

It was so normal it almost made him sweat. 

"So I might need your help on the English paper." Phineas turned to Ferb. "You're much better than I am at explaining radical sociological changes in classical works."

"I would hardly call Charlotte Brontë's works 'classical'." Ferb sniffed dismissively. " _Far_ too modern."

Phineas laughed as he carried Perry up the stairs to their room, knowing Ferb's love of the ancient classics and dead languages. Perry was carefully placed on Ferb's bed, the two boys pulling out text books and papers, spreading them around themselves and settling down to finishing their homework.

Once again, all normal. Perry glanced around, wondering if there were cameras watching them that the boys were playing up to. Nothing. 

The next few days were similarly nerve wracking. The usual cry of 'Hey, Where's Perry?' was uttered every time he snuck off to talk to Major Monogram, and he was always greeted with 'Oh, there you are!' whenever he returned. The boys didn't alter their patterns at all.

It was as if he'd never gotten a letter, or he'd dreamt the whole thing. 

Saturday morning arrived bright and early, the spring day cheerfully sunny. Summer would be here soon, he could feel the warmth starting to creep into the earth. 

The boys sprang out of bed, Phineas chattering excitedly as they exchanged addresses and locations, making last minute decisions as to where they wanted to go today. Perry patrolled the house, waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

And then the hall clock began to chime the hour. 8 o'clock.

Perry peered to the front hall, watching the boys shove on hats and jackets, Ferb stopping his brother and helping Phineas put his arms in the sleeves, straightening the jacket. 

Phineas was anxious, his eyes scanning the hallway for something. Ferb was quietly reassuring Phineas, but he too kept glancing down the hall, where Perry was lurking, their movements slowing down. 

They were waiting for him, he realised. 

He glanced the house, all the secret entrances and tunnels in it. He could stay here, where it was familiar. He'd have Linda and Lawrence with him. Fewer eyes meant that he didn't have to sneak quite as much, he could enjoy the house on two legs like on his rare days off. 

But it wouldn't be the same without his boys. 

His feet betrayed him, his body in motion before his brain caught up, pressing against Ferb's ankle. "Oh, there you are Perry!" Phineas said, his voice wavering slightly in relief. "You coming with us?" 

Both boys waited, not moving to pick him up like they normally would. He had a chance here, to back out. He could just wander away and that would be the end of it. 

He chattered instead, sitting up on his hind legs to be picked up. He got two huge bright grins in return, Phineas picking him up and tucking him against his chest. "That's great!" Phineas exclaimed, cheerful once more. "Ferb, you ready too?"

Ferb flashed a thumbs up. 

"Oh, you boys heading out?" Linda's voice called. She walked up, drying her hands on a dish cloth. "You have fun out there, and stay safe, okay? And don't forget, your Father and I want a look at whatever property you plan on buying _before_ you sign the papers, alright?"

"Yes, Mom." Phineas agreed with a smile. 

"Oh, don't you 'Yes, Mom' me." She scolded him, kissing his cheek, then standing on tip-toe to do the same to Ferb. "Honestly, you kids grow up so fast. Pretty soon it'll just be Lawrence and I here. Perry going with you?"

"That's what it looks like." Phineas bounced on his heels. Ferb smiled in agreement. 

"As if he'd have it any other way." Linda rubbed the top of Perry's head, as if Perry's decision was a fore-gone conclusion. "Alright, you three go on. I've got some meetings to get to."

"Later, Mom." Phineas waved, Ferb opening the front door for him. They stepped outside into the bright light, eyes blinking at the sudden change. "Wow. It sure is nice out." Phineas took a deep breath and let it out. "Perfect weather for house hunting."

Ferb nodded in agreement, heading to the garage, opening it with a click of a remote. "We were hoping that you'd come with us, so Ferb altered his bike so all three of us could ride in comfort." Phineas explained as they walked over. "Whatcha think?"

A sidecar had been added to Ferb's scooter, which had the more powerful engine of the two. Phineas sat down in the sidecar, Ferb pulling out the keys to drive. There was a pause as they both put their helmets on, then Phineas placed a smaller helmet on on Perry's head. "Safety first." He said cheerfully, fastening the seat belt across his lap.

Perry was still wary of helmets after Doofenshmirtz's mind control helmet and nearly eating gum off the sidewalk, but he allowed it to be fastened around his head. 

"Ready, Ferb?" Phineas beamed at his brother. Ferb started the engine in response, which made a loud echoing roaring noise, then flashed them a thumb's up.

"Alright." Phineas placed goggles over his eyes. "Let's get our move thing on." 

Ferb gunned the engine, the scooter smoothly pulling out on to the street and towards the city.

* * *

"I... Don't know..." Phineas glanced around the suburban house as the realtor hovered in the background, having finished touring the house. "I mean, it's a nice split-story, three bedroom, two and a half baths, central air, with a swimming pool out back, but it doesn't feel quite right." 

Perry glanced around. The house felt... familiar some how. He couldn't quite put his finger on it though. He stared at the breakfast nook, which looked newer than the rest of the house, it didn't completely match the rest of the house. 

Ferb made an annoyed sound as he checked the bottoms of his shoes. The front yard had been a minefield of dog poop, one that Phineas, who had been carrying Perry, had fortunately avoided. Phineas followed Ferb's gaze, wrinkling his nose as he did so. "Can't say much for the neighbours though." Phineas added dryly. "Which is a pity, since it's only like a block or so from home."

Candace and Jeremy's house was only about a mile away from both of their parent's, and Phineas had wanted to stay close to their family. 

A leaf blower started up next door, leaves drifting past the windows and Perry's memory clicked to a sunny summer day. He had been here once, but never seen the inside. 

It was Doofenshmirtz' house in the suburbs, one that he'd sold after a ill-fated confrontation with the annoying next door neighbour, Phil. 

Perry growled, then did his best to herd his boys out the door. "Yeah." Phineas agreed, leaning down to pick him up. "Thanks anyway." He waved to the realtor as they left. The realtor just looked resigned, staring off in Phil's direction. Probably not the first prospective buyers Phil had scared away. 

Not that Perry really cared about the annoying neighbour. His boys were **not** living anywhere Doofenshmirtz had previously owned.

* * *

"And _what_ is **that**?" The manager looked disdainfully down at Perry in Ferb's arms. Perry chattered back.

"That's our pet Platypus, Perry." Phineas said proudly. "We're looking for a place for the three of us."

A few minutes later, they were back on the street, Phineas hopping mad. "What do you mean, they have a 'No Monotreme' policy?! That's species-ist! And Perry is perfectly house-trained! He's never had an accident! Not once! Well, aside from that one time on that guy's sofa, but that was perfectly understandable! I would have too under those circumstances!"

Perry almost chattered indignantly back. He had never peed on anyone's furniture....

Aside from the one time on Doofenshmirtz' sofa, when he was trying to keep the boys from helping the mad scientist create a portal into a second dimension. 

Perry froze, gaze flickering back and forth between the brothers. There was no way they could have remembered, they'd had their memories of the entire day erased with the Amnesia-Inator.

Ferb merely rolled his eyes, passing Perry over to Phineas as they got back on the bike. Phineas absently tucked Perry close to him, pulling up their holographic listing of places to look. "Right. That's it, no more apartments. Unless we buy an entire tower and glut it." 

Ferb thought it over, then shook his head. "Right." Phineas agreed, striking through all the listings that were more than 3 stories tall. "Not enough yard space."

* * *

"Is that a Titan missile?" Phineas looked up and up, nearly falling backwards as his gaze rose past the giant metal monstrosity that took up the center of the space, illuminated by the the faint speck of daylight high above them. 

"De-commissioned." The tour guide hastened to explain. 

Ferb suddenly had tools in his hands, looking up at the missile with large round eyes, the slightest quiver in his lip, like he was looking at something truly spectacular and beautiful. 

Phineas did a double-take, then grabbed his brother's arm, dragging them from the Missile Silo. "Thank you." He said to the tour guide. "But I think we'll keep looking."

* * *

"The Old Abandon Old Abandon Amusement Park." Phineas declared with relish as they pulled up. The former amusement park was literally falling to pieces, a small growing forest of trees taking over in the shadow of a roller coaster skeleton. 

They stared at it for a moment. "I can see why Isabella would suggest it as a place to check out." Phineas mused. "Plenty of room for roller coasters."

Ferb got a thoughtful look on his face, then pulled a small tablet out of his pocket and started flipping through it before projecting something into the air for them to see. 

"Huh." Phineas gave the screen a curious look. "It's zoned as a Maracanut Tree Preserve. Great for a park, but not so good for developing."

Ferb nodded, putting the tablet away.

"Still, it's nice to see the Maracanut Tree prospering." Phineas finally shrugged in return. "The stickiness of their sap really is underrated. We should see about harvesting some later and doing another project with bubbles. Maybe a Castle in the sky, a cross between a mythical palace and a giant bounce house. That could be fun." 

Ferb thought about it then nodded, leaning tiredly on the handlebars. A breeze drifted by, the fresh scent of nature soothing to Perry's senses. They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the moment.

Then Ferb's stomach growled. Phineas and Perry turned to look at him, Ferb looking embarrassed as he covered his abdomen with a hand.

Phineas' stomach echoed the rumble, vibrating Perry. 

"I'm thinking lunch." Phineas said contemplatively. "Lunch sounds good. How about you guys?"

Ferb flashed him a thumbs up and Perry chattered. He could eat.

* * *

They stopped at D's Pizza for lunch, the three of them easily polishing off a large pizza with everything on it. Usually at home, they were strict about making sure he got his Platypus Chow. And while he did like his mix of grubs, fish, and insects, he did like a little variation in his diet, the fact that they put a slice of pizza on a plate and offered it to him like it was an everyday occurrence.... was odd.

Perry unobtrusively picked the onions off his slice of pizza and set them aside before eating it. He didn't mind their flavour, but they didn't do kind things to his stomach afterwards. If the boys noticed, they didn't mention it at all, engrossed in inhaling the other slices of pizza. 

"I'm starting to think that you had the right idea to begin with, Ferb." Phineas mused as he pushed the last slice of pizza towards Ferb. They were both bottomless pits when it came to food at the moment, Ferb more so than his more svelte brother. "That houses and the usual sort of accommodations aren't the way to go." 

Ferb inclined his head, both in thanks for the pizza and in silent query. Phineas had been the one urging them to look at houses and apartments, locations closer to the city and population. Ferb had been reluctant, but followed his brother's lead in doing the usual things: checking listings, research, and talking to people. 

"What we need really isn't so much residential, but room to create." Phineas pulled out his phone, activating the holograph so they could see all the listings. "We can live anywhere, but there aren't a lot of places large enough to have the elbow room we need to work on our big ideas." 

Ferb nodded, pulling out his tablet and quickly marking through stuff. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed his screen up onto the projection. 

Warehouses. 

"They convert these into lofts all the time, don't they?" Phineas mused. "And it's not like we don't have expertise at making our own places. How many of these do you have, Ferb?"

Ferb pulled up a map of Danville, virtual pushpins marking sites for sale. Phineas looked through them, muttering to himself as he marked various places for further investigation, Ferb occasionally giving a thumbs up or down at the photos and location. 

"Okay." Phineas finally paused and smiled, holding his pen up to the projection and circled three locations. "These are our top three. What do you think, Perry?"

Perry just stared blankly, still not entirely comfortable with what was going on. His boys didn't seem to mind, Ferb smiling slightly as he picked Perry up and cradled him.

Phineas laughed, reaching out and petting Perry's head. "I'll take that as a yes."

* * *

The first warehouse was a crumbling ruin invested with pigeons, the ground covered with poo. It was a silent and simultaneous decision to back away and leave. Poo had a corrosive effect on metal, they'd probably have to rebuild the entire place from scratch.

The second one was much cleaner, modern looking and completely devoid of feeling. 

The third one had been occupied until a few months prior, then hastily vacated. 

"Isn't this the one you originally showed me, Ferb?" Phineas asked, stretching his face up to greet the sunlight streaming in from the skylight above, bathing both he and Perry in shimmering gold. 

There was a noise from above and Phineas turned to find Ferb up in the rafters, giving them a thumbs up. 

"I like it." Phineas grinned, setting Perry down to explore. "It feels bright in here." 

Which made sense, sunlight drew Phineas like a flower to the sun. In contrast, given half a chance Ferb preferred more shadowed areas and slightly overcast days. Possibly a holdover from having lived in England for the first few years of his life. 

Phineas hummed thoughtfully as he walked around, eyes already calculating as he explored the large metal building. Perry noticed burn marks, signs of disintegrator fire and moved to a shadowed corner, pulling up O.W.C.A. files on the building. 

The reason for the sudden vacancy was that the previous owner was a member of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N., recently incarcerated. It was a former villainous hideout. 

Alarmed, he jumped to two feet, moving quickly to inspect the building for booby traps or anything that might hurt his boys. There are the remains of a few, all of them dismantled. The O.W.C.A. had no doubt been through and dismantled them all. 

That didn't mean that Perry wasn't going to be on his guard. It never hurt to double check, especially if one of the agents had gotten distracted by something inane like a flying bug or a tennis ball. 

"There's already a kitchen set up here!" Phineas called from the other side of the warehouse, his voice echoing. "And a bathroom! Water and electricity works! The view of the ocean is amazing as well! We've got our own pier and everything!" 

Perry ran to the other side of the room, quickly checking it for traps as well. The living quarters seemed to be clear of tricks, no doubt for the villain's own safety. He'd seen Doofenshmirtz before he'd had his first cup of coffee and it wasn't pretty. Or graceful. 

Ferb appeared, a pair of goggles covering his eyes as he looked around the area. He took them off and pointed off to one side, passing the green-tinted lenses to Phineas. "Oh, cool!" Phineas grinned. "There's even an agent entrance on the side. And a transportation tube exit just outside the warehouse too."

Perry froze, the hairs on the back of his spine rising, grateful he was already on all fours. He slowly turned, looking at his boys. Phineas was studying the area with the goggles, Ferb fiddling with some device or another, a serious look on his face. 

"As long as it makes you happy, we don't care about you disappearing to fight Doofenshmirtz." Phineas said mildly, turning to look at Perry, pushing the goggles up onto his forehead. "But since the O.W.C.A. is in the trade of stealing technology, we prefer it if they didn't have direct access to our place." 

Perry tensed, halfway expecting the O.W.C.A. security forces to come in and cart his boys away. It was his one of his worst recurring nightmares, that his being a secret agent would harm the boys. When nothing happened, he slowly relaxed. 

Ferb held the device he was holding aloft. "Signal jammer." Phineas explained, motioning to it. "No one can hear us." 

"We know that if the 'Organisation Without a Cool Acronym' were to discover we knew your secret, you would be taken away from us." Ferb explained. "And we're not inclined to let that happen unless you want to leave."

"You're family." Phineas added with a nod and a shrug.

It felt like his heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest as Perry looked at his boys. His smart, brave, loving boys. Who wanted him with them, secret agent and all. Even if they weren't sure if he wanted to stay with them or not. 

He carefully rose to his feet, wobbling slightly as he looked at them from the slight change in perspective. They were tall now, taller than the last time he had been able to show himself like this, he barely came up to their knees now. 

Not that it made any difference, with Phineas crouching down, arms open. Perry ran forward, Phineas catching him with a small chuckle as Perry threw himself towards him, limbs twining around each other. Another set of arms joined them, Ferb leaning down to hug both of them. 

His boys. His mad, _wonderful_ boys. 

"We love you too." Phineas murmured, speaking for all of them. Perry nuzzled Phineas' neck, then leaned over and did the same to Ferb, reaching out so he could hold on to both of them at once. Ferb made a happy rumble in response, making Phineas laugh. 

They eventually loosened their embrace, but stayed loosely entangled, leaning against each other with comfortable familiarity. "So, whatcha think?" Phineas said, looking around the warehouse. "It'll take some work, definitely have to re-wire everything for solar power, and Perry'll need a new lair, but.... Our new home?"

Ferb nodded, flashing them a thumbs up. Perry chirred, nodding his head in agreement. His home. With the boys. No secrets, no having to disguise who he was. 

It was going to take some adjustment, not to live in a state of constant protective paranoia, but he found himself looking forward to it. 

To a new, and different future. 

-fin-


End file.
